An aerial view of the Ascon landfill site in Huntington Beach. Crews have nearly completed the first phase of the project and have removed about 96,000 tons of hazardous materials from the site.

What's next?

The state Department of Toxic Substances Control will hold a public meeting for residents interested in learning more about the proposed Ascon landfill cleanup project at

6 p.m. Sept. 12 at Edison High School.

Public comments on the draft report will be collected over the next 45 days. After the comment period closes, the state will respond to comments and take them into account before drawing up a final environmental study and cleanup plan for approval.

Ascon's history

1938: Much of the waste dumped at Ascon was related to oil-drilling operations.

1971: After this year the site became a dumping ground for abandoned vehicles and construction materials.

1984: The landfill closed and nothing changed onsite until 2002.

1991: The state labeled Ascon a hazardous site.

2002: Routine maintenance on the site started and potential ground water impacts were studied.

2005: An emergency action plan was put in place to remove some material and strengthen one of the berms on site.

2009: The state announced plans to clean the site after determining materials could have long-term impacts.

2010: First phase of the cleanup was launched; about 100,000 tons of material removed over an eight-month process.

2012: The Orange County grand jury urged the state to hurry cleanup efforts.

2013: An action plan and environmental study were released for public comment.

HUNTINGTON BEACH – Removing some hazardous materials and sealing off any leftover substances at the toxic Ascon landfill site is the best option to make the site safe for nearby residents and the environment, according to a state report released Thursday.

The Department of Toxic Substances Control released the first draft of an environmental study and action plan to clean up the 38-acre landfill at Magnolia Street and Hamilton Avenue. The report looked at six possible options for the site, which houses several pits filled with about 1.4 million tons of different types of waste including rubber, tar, industrial scrap and construction materials.

The report says the most feasible and cost-effective option would be to remove about 43,500 tons of materials, leave the rest, mix it with concrete and cap off the site. After the cleanup is done, some native plants would be put in and the state would continue to monitor the site, the report says. That plan would cost about $58.6 million and take about 11 months.

The report also looked at leaving the site alone, removing some material and injecting the rest into deep-ground oil reservoirs or fully removing the waste and shipping it elsewhere for disposal. The state determined the other options didn't meet health and safety standards, would impact the community too much or were too expensive – or some combination of those issues.

A final cleanup of Ascon has been in the pipeline for decades. The Department of Toxic Substances Control reported that there have been more than 30 on-site investigations since 1966 to study the material on site and its potential impact to the community and environment.

The site now has four visible pits and a fifth that's covered with a liner. Over the course of 30 years, several other pits were filled with waste on site but many have been filled in or covered, the report says.

The site first took in oil field debris form 1938 to 1984. After 1971, Ascon served as a dumping site for abandoned vehicles and construction materials such as concrete, metal and wood.

The landfill was labeled hazardous in 1991, but cleanup was hindered by the land changing ownership several times and more studies that needed to be done to assess how to handle the materials.

State officials in 2009 announced that the tarry sludge in the pits could have long-term impacts and the site needed to be cleaned.

The first major effort to remove the hazardous waste was launched in 2010. Over about eight months, 100,000 tons of tarlike material were removed from Ascon, but officials said they needed more time to study how to finish the cleanup.

The Orange County grand jury in 2012 released a report urging the state to rid the site of any hazardous material and study any potential health impacts in the process.

Over the years, some who live in nearby neighborhoods have complained about potential health effects caused by the chemicals on site and questioned whether living so close to the site could increase their risk for cancer, according to Orange County Register articles.

Arsenic, sulfuric acid and benzene acid are among the chemicals found at the landfill, and, if left there, they could contaminate the groundwater supply, experts say.

The Department of Toxic Substances Control said its studies have found there is not an increased risk for cancer for nearby residents.

Ascon's history

1938: Much of the waste dumped at Ascon was related to oil-drilling operations.

1971: The site became a dumping ground for abandoned vehicles and construction materials.

1984: The landfill closed and nothing changed onsite until 2002.

1991: The state labeled Ascon a hazardous site.

2002: Routine maintenance on the site started and potential ground water impacts were studied.

2005: An emergency action plan was put in place to remove some material and strengthen one of the berms.

2009: The state announced plans to clean the site after determining materials could have long-term impacts.

2010: The first phase of the cleanup was launched and about 100,000 tons of material removed over eight months.

2012: The Orange County grand jury released a report urging to the state to hurry up with cleanup efforts.

2013: An action plan and environmental study were released for public comment.

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